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- What separates AI from old-fashioned computer programs is its ability to learn, adapt and respond with some degree of autonomy.
- Safety and health-related aspects of AI include robotic exoskeletons that help prevent musculoskeletal injuries among workers doing heavy lifting and virtual-reality safety training.
- Barriers to implementation include cost, quality of data and pushback from workers.
- Ever since OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022, the buzz around artificial intelligence has built to a fever pitch. The possibilities of AI seem boundless, inspiring reactions ranging from awestruck optimism to apocalyptic nightmares (especially after hundreds of technology leaders signed a public statement in May 2023 warning of AI’s existential threat to humanity).
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- The truth is, AI isn’t a single tool – it’s a general-purpose technological advancement along the lines of electricity or the internet, with similarly world-changing potential, says Cam Stevens, CEO of the Pocketknife Group, a consultancy focused on the intersection between technology and workplace safety.
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- “AI is an umbrella term that describes a field of computing that’s dedicated to creating systems that are capable of performing tasks that would normally require some form of human intelligence,” Stevens explains. “It’s one of the technology mega-trends that are shaping the future of work.”
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- That includes the future of workplace safety.
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- How is AI being used now?
- What separates AI from old-fashioned computer programs is its ability to learn, adapt and respond with some degree of autonomy.
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- Still, AI isn’t really new. For decades before ChatGPT blew up, AI was quietly helping us plan driving routes with GPS, guarding our smartphones with facial or fingerprint recognition, and cleaning up our spelling in texts and emails.
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- But in recent years, advances and investment in AI have led professionals in every field, including occupational safety and health, to explore how the technology could revolutionize their work.
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- The result has been a profusion of innovative health and safety applications – from robotic exoskeletons that help prevent musculoskeletal injuries and smart helmets that can monitor vital signs and working conditions, to virtual-reality safety training. But at the moment, most of these applications are still in the experimental stage or in small-scale use.
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- “There’s a lot of promise in the emerging technologies area, but generative AI is what everyone has access to and is the primary form used in the workplace,” says Jay Vietas, chief of the Emerging Technologies Branch at NIOSH. “You can ask them to write a health and safety plan for your area. You can ask it to tell you what the risks are with respect to electrical safety or how to design a lockout/tagout program, for example.
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